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The Haunting of Hill House (TV series)

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The Haunting of Hill House
GenreSupernatural
Horror
Drama
Created byMike Flanagan
Based onThe Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
Directed byMike Flanagan
Starring
Music byThe Newton Brothers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Mike Flanagan
  • Trevor Macy
  • Darryl Frank
  • Justin Falvey
  • Meredith Averill
Running time42–71 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)

The Haunting of Hill House is an American supernatural horror television series created by Mike Flanagan. It is loosely based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson and premiered on Netflix.[1] The first season consists of ten episodes[1] and was released on October 12, 2018.

The plot

On the summer of 1992, Hugh and Olivia Crain, along with their children Steven, Shirley, Theodora, Luke and Eleanor, temporarily move into Hill House while they renovate the mansion, to sell at a profit then build their own house as designed by Olivia. However, unexpected repairs necessitate the lengthening of their stay. At the same time, they begin to experience increasing paranormal phenomena that results in a tragic loss and the family fleeing from the house. Twenty-seven years later, the Crain siblings and their estranged father reunite after tragedy strikes again, and they are all forced to confront how their time in Hill House had affected each of them.

Cast

Main

  • Michiel Huisman as Steven Crain,[2] the eldest son of the family. As a grown man he’s an author, famous for writing about his family’s experience at Hill House.
    • Paxton Singleton as young Steven.[3]
  • Carla Gugino as Olivia Crain,[4] the mother of the family, who designs houses. She, along with her daughter Nell, are among the most affected by the paranormal activity in the house.
  • Henry Thomas as the younger Hugh Crain,[5] the father of the family, who builds houses.
  • Elizabeth Reaser as Shirley Crain Harris,[5] the eldest daughter of the family. She owns a mortuary with her husband Kevin and has a son and daughter.
  • Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Luke Crain,[8] older twin of Nell and one of the two youngest members of the family. He struggles with addiction as an adult.
    • Julian Hilliard as young Luke.[3]
  • Kate Siegel as Theodora "Theo" Crain,[5] the middle child of the five, and a child psychologist. A "sensitive" like her mother, she wears gloves to prevent touching another person and experiencing psychic knowledge about them.
  • Victoria Pedretti as Eleanor "Nell" Crain Vance,[7] Luke's younger twin and one of the two youngest members of the family. She has never fully recovered from the haunting she experienced while living in Hill House.
    • Violet McGraw as young Nell.[9]

Recurring

  • Annabeth Gish as Clara Dudley. She, along with her husband, are the caretakers of the house and help the Crains in their efforts to revamp the mansion.
  • Anthony Ruivivar as Kevin Harris, Shirley's husband.
  • Samantha Sloyan as Leigh Crain, Steven's wife.
  • Robert Longstreet as Horace Dudley.
  • Levy Tran as Trish Park, Theo's lover.
  • James Lafferty as Ryan, an apparition from Shirley's memory.
  • James Flanagan as Funeral Director.
  • Anna Enger as Joey, a recovering addict that Luke tries to help.
  • Jordane Christie as Arthur Vance, Nell's husband.
  • Catherine Parker as Poppy Hill, one of the ghosts inhabiting Hill House, wife of William Hill and considered insane when alive.
  • Fedor Steer as William Hill, former owner of Hill House who went insane and bricked himself behind a wall; appears as Tall Man/Bowler Hat Man.
  • Olive Elise Abercrombie as Abigail, daughter of Clara and Horace Dudley.
  • Elizabeth Becka as Aunt Janet, sister of Olivia Crain.

Development and production

The exterior of Hill House was filmed at Bisham Manor in LaGrange, Georgia, while the interiors were filmed on a soundstage.[10] Bisham Manor is an English Tudor-style mansion that is an event and wedding venue.[11]

Season two

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan said "I don't want to speculate too much about season two until Netflix and Paramount and Amblin let us know if they want one. What I will say, though, is that as far as I've ever been concerned with this, the story of the Crain family is told. It's done."[12]

Reception

The Haunting of Hill House received critical acclaim upon its release. The series received an approval score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.4 out of 10, and a critical consensus stating: "The Haunting of Hill House is an effective ghost story whose steadily mounting anticipation is just as satisfying as its chilling payoff."[13] Metacritic gave the series a score of 79 out of 100, indicating a "generally favorable" response.[14]

Corrine Corrodus of The Telegraph gave the series a 5/5 rating, calling it "the most complex and complete horror series of its time".[15] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave unanimous praise to the Netflix adaptation, calling it "essential viewing" and stating that "[the show] contains some of the most unforgettable horror imagery in film or television in years."[16] David Griffin of IGN gave the series a rating of 9.5 out of 10, "Amazing", calling it "a superb and terrifying family drama."[17] Paul Tassi of Forbes called it "absolutely fantastic" and stated that "it may actually be Netflix's best original show ever."[18]

The Independent reported that author Stephen King, a huge admirer of Jackson's novel, had tweeted: "I don't usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure".[19]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Steven Sees a Ghost"Mike FlanaganTeleplay by : Mike FlanaganOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Steven Crain is an author known for "The Haunting of Hill House", an autobiographical novel about his childhood experience while residing in the haunted mansion along with parents Hugh and Olivia, and siblings Shirley, Theo, Nell and Luke. During their stay, the Crain family encounters paranormal occurrences and is forced to flee without Olivia, who dies within the house, traumatising the rest of the family. Years later, Steven used his family's traumatic experiences to write his book, straining the bonds with his siblings. Although it became a best-seller, Steven missed most of the frightening experiences and does not actually believe in the paranormal. Theo goes to a bar where she flirts with a woman, Trish, and goes home with her. Steven and Shirley miss calls from Nell, who then calls Hugh and expresses concern for Luke, who has become an addict. When Steven returns home he sees Luke leaving with equipment stolen from his apartment and when he enters the apartment finds Nell there. While talking to her, Steven receives a call from Hugh informing him that Nell completed suicide in Hill House. Steven realizes that Nell is a ghost.
2"Open Casket"Mike FlanaganMike FlanaganOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
In childhood flashbacks at Hill House, Shirley encounters a box of kittens located in a hut nearby the mansion, and manages to convince her parents to let her take them inside the house. However, the kittens all end up dying, which deeply affects and disturbs Shirley, who obsesses over why she couldn't fix them. Some time later after she and her family have left Hill House, a funeral is held for Olivia and an initially distraught Shirley is surprised and in awe that the mortician was able to "fix" her mother. As an adult, Shirley is now a mortician who owns a funeral business alongside her husband, Kevin, and rents a guest house to Theo, who is now a child therapist. Shirley soon gets a call from Steven, who informs her of Nell's death. Distraught and shaken, she requests that Nell's corpse be brought to her and she embalms her sister herself. However, after completing the embalming, Shirley suffers a scare when she encounters a ghost from her past.
3"Touch"Mike FlanaganLiz PhangOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Flashbacks reveal that Theo is able to perceive feelings from people and impressions from objects when she touches them with her bare hands. An incident with Luke in the dumbwaiter leads to a secret cellar not mapped in the house's blueprints, where he encounters something that attacks him. Luke is upset that no one believes him, so Theo investigates and finds a hidden door leading to the basement. Olivia reveals to Theo that her grandmother (and by extent, she and her daughters) are "sensitive" and gives Theo a pair of gloves to protect her hands. While working as a therapist for children in foster care, Theo comes across a child that she can't "read" and who claims to be tormented by "Mr. Smiley", a monster that lives in the basement. Theo goes to the house where the little girl lives and discovers the truth of the situation. Afterwards, she goes to the morgue, takes off her gloves and touches Nell's forehead, then collapses and screams. Theo opens up about herself to Trish.
4"The Twin Thing"Mike FlanaganScott KosarOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Child Luke was frustrated his family never believed him. He finds a friend named Abigail, whom all of the family insist is imaginary. Luke claims a bowler hat his mother finds in the attic and wears it frequently. In the present, Luke is now 90 days clean and determined to stay that way. Luke and Nell have shared a "twin thing" since birth, and each is able to feel the other's physical ailments. Luke's best friend in the halfway house, Joey, runs away to get high, and Luke follows after. Child Luke wakes up one night and encounters the spirit of a tall man that comes to collect its bowler hat from Luke. Luke finds his friend, but during his search, Luke feels unnaturally cold and stiff. Lacking money for a place to stay, Luke breaks into Steve’s apartment to steal items to sell. Joey takes the money and disappears and later Luke is mugged, leaving him shoeless and wandering with the hatted man following him. The feeling of cold from earlier is unbearable and Luke calls the halfway house to beg to be allowed back in. Steve informs Luke of Nell’s passing. Luke shakily states it wasn't suicide.
5"The Bent-Neck Lady"Mike FlanaganMeredith AverillOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Child Nell is tormented by an apparition she calls the Bent-Neck Lady, a ghostly figure with a broken neck standing at the foot of her bed while Nell is unable to move. Adult Nell sees a sleep technician, Arthur, for sleep paralysis and the two immediately hit it off. They become engaged, eventually marrying. During one sleep paralysis episode Arthur suffers a sudden brain aneurysm, dying, while Nell sees the Bent-Neck Lady again. Nell begins to use her medication less and less, causing schisms with Theo and Steve. In her broken state, and convinced by her therapist that Hill House is "just a carcass in the woods", Nell drives off to the house. She enters the house and encounters an idyllic scenario of her family and Arthur before finding herself at the top of a staircase, where she puts a noose around her neck whilst imagining it to be her mother's locket, before she is pushed from the ledge, breaking her neck. As she dies, she sees herself fall and travel through the past revealing that she is the Bent-Neck Lady haunting her younger self, becoming a ghost of the house.
6"Two Storms"Mike FlanaganMike Flanagan & Jeff HowardOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
The episode alternates between two storms: one the family experienced in the past, at Hill House, the other in the present, the night before Nell's funeral, with the entire Crain family meeting at the funeral parlor to view Nell's body, together in the same room for the first time since leaving the house. During the storm in the past, Nell goes missing. While searching for her, Olivia sees spirits in the house, and enters a fugue state, acting strangely and unlike herself. The children see a creature in the house. Nell is eventually found, and she says she had been there the whole time, but they couldn't see her. At the funeral home in the present, the Crains share memories of Nell. Odd things happen: Steve sees a flash of the ghost of his sister, the power goes out, something is interfering with Nell's body, and Hugh sometimes seems to talk to himself. The family demands answers from Hugh about what happened, leading to several confrontations and revelations. Tempers rise and the arguments turn nasty. This escalates until Nell's coffin falls over, interrupting the fights. Nell's spirit had been in the room the whole time as they fought, though no one could see her.
7"Eulogy"Mike FlanaganCharise Castro SmithOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Hugh is getting dressed and ready for the funeral, revealing that he has been talking to Olivia. Hugh attempts to reach out to Shirley, who is uncooperative, but has better luck with Theo, and the two converse over each other's mistakes and make amends. During the funeral, Hugh tries to reconnect with his children. In the past, assessing the house for storm damage, moisture and mold suggest a leak, but they can't find a source. Mr. Dudley assists Hugh, revealing some history of the house's previous occupants. Mr. Dudley suggests the increasingly-erratic Olivia needs to spend time away from the house, sharing some of the strange experiences he and Mrs. Dudley have had, and why they never come to the house at night. Hugh and Olivia agree she needs to spend some time away when her behavior becomes disturbing and dangerous. Hugh discovers the source of the moisture and solves the disappearance of William Hill, the original owner. The creature from Luke's childhood basement incident appears twice in the present, attacking Luke at the funeral and then Hugh and Theo in Shirley's office. Luke goes missing after the funeral.
8"Witness Marks"Mike FlanaganJeff Howard & Rebecca KlingelOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Steven and Hugh drive around to find Luke. Steven believes the family's issues are mental and explains he underwent a vasectomy to avoid spreading his family's "sickness". Shirley and Theo stay at the funeral parlor to keep watch on whether Luke will use the stolen credit card. They have an argument and are spooked by unexplained knocks across the walls. Shirley gets a notification of Luke using the credit card for gas, nearby Hill House. Hugh reveals to Steven that he and his siblings are like "an unfinished meal" to Hill House. Shirley and Theo decide to drive up to Hill House, while continuing to argue with each other. Nell's ghost scares them during their argument, until they mend their bond. Luke arrives at Hill House and tries to burn it down, only to be caught off guard by a vision of Olivia and another ghost, who incapacitates Luke. Steve and Leigh visited a doctor for fertility treatments.
9"Screaming Meemies"Mike FlanaganMeredith AverillOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
In a flashback, Hugh finds Olivia, Nell, and Luke asleep on a couch. Olivia says she wishes she could keep the kids "like this forever". When Olivia heads to her reading room, she actually enters the morgue where Nell's body speaks to her. Later Olivia recounts this "dream" to Hugh. Olivia awakes in the middle of the night thinking someone in the house. She encounters and follows a ghost, and tells the apparition that during the storm, she had a dream about losing Nell. The ghost tells her about similar experiences. The ghost whispers a secret in Olivia's ear. Upon waking, she agrees to leave the house for Janet's and get some rest, complaining again about the "dreams". Olivia and Hugh decide she will leave the next morning. Hugh notices mold in the basement, even after all the work he had done. Olivia pretends to call from Janet's but is really in a hotel near the house. She takes a cab back to the house late at night. The last night at the house starts to unfold as Olivia wakes the twins for a tea party and enters the red room. Hugh finds out and realizes Olivia tainted the tea with rat poison, and manages to stop Olivia before she made them drink the tea. Hugh gets the kids out of the house, leaving a depressed Olivia alone. Influenced by the house, she then jumps from the staircase, killing herself.
10"Silence Lay Steadily"Mike FlanaganMike FlanaganOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Steven and Hugh see Luke lying unconscious in the Red Room after failing to burn down Hill House. Steven becomes locked in the room and awakens from a nightmare to find Luke near death as Theo and Shirley, also incapacitated within it, awaken after experiencing revelatory dreams about their lives. In Luke's dream he arises inside a pristine room and finds Olivia, Abigail, and a young Nell. Olivia wants him to stay, but Nell tells him to leave. He wakes up gasping and points to Nell's specter as having saved him. Nell explains that the Red Room is the "stomach" of the house and the room in which each of them had lived a personal fantasy. Before vanishing she assures them that they had all loved each other completely. Olivia's ghost tells Poppy to stay away from Hugh. Olivia doesn't want her children to leave, but Hugh convinces her to open the door and let them escape. Hugh and Steven stay behind and Olivia's death and its aftermath are revealed. Hugh, who had died beforehand, enters the room and joins Olivia and Nell. Two years later the siblings, with bonds reconciled, celebrate Luke's sobriety together with their partners.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (April 10, 2017). "Netflix Orders TV Series Adaptation Of 'The Haunting of Hill House' Book From Mike Flanagan, Amblin TV & Paramount TV". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (June 13, 2017). "'Game of Thrones' Favorite to Star in 'Haunting of Hill House' Series for Netflix (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  3. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (October 17, 2017). "'The Haunting Of Hill House': Netflix Sets Paxton Singleton & Julian Hilliard As Series Regulars". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 18, 2017). "Carla Gugino To Star In 'The Haunting Of Hill House' Netflix TV Series Adaptation". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Petski, Denise (August 14, 2017). "Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser & Kate Siegel Cast In 'The Haunting Of Hill House' Netflix TV Series Adaptation". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 23, 2017). "Timothy Hutton To Star In 'The Haunting Of Hill House' Netflix TV Series Adaptation". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  7. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (September 14, 2017). "'The Haunting Of Hill House': Lulu Wilson & Victoria Pedretti Cast In Netflix Series Re-Imagining". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (August 24, 2017). "'The Haunting Of Hill House': Oliver Jackson-Cohen Cast In Netflix TV Series Adaptation". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  9. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (September 25, 2017). "'The Haunting Of Hill House': Mckenna Grace & Violet McGraw Join Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  10. ^ https://hookedonhouses.net/2018/10/29/haunting-of-hill-house-bisham-manor/
  11. ^ http://bishammanor.com/the-manor.php
  12. ^ Stack, Tim (October 23, 2018). "The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan on hidden clues, major scares, and a season 2". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  14. ^ "The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1". Metacritic. 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  15. ^ Corrodus, Corrine (October 12, 2018). "The Haunting of Hill House review: by far the most complex and complete horror series of its time". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  16. ^ Tallerico, Brian (October 11, 2018). "Netflix's Terrifying, Moving The Haunting of Hill House is Essential Viewing". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  17. ^ Griffin, David (October 12, 2018). "Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  18. ^ Tassi, Paul (October 26, 2018). "'The Haunting Of Hill House' May Actually Be Netflix's Best Original Show Ever". forbes.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Clarisse Laughrey (October 17, 2018). "Stephen King calls new Netflix horror The Haunting of Hill House 'close to a work of genius'". Independent. Retrieved October 20, 2018.

Further reading

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